


I Will Always Find You

by cinnamont



Category: Glee, Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Crossover, M/M, Prince Charming | Blaine, Snow White | Kurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-14
Updated: 2014-10-14
Packaged: 2018-02-19 19:55:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2400947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinnamont/pseuds/cinnamont
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the Klaine Prompt Challenge. a once upon a time!klaine type prompt! Mostly the Snow White/Prince Charming storyline and how they met. Instead of Kurt being a prince on the run, he can be someone who needs to steal money/gold to help support him and his father because they have very little (Kurt is also a skilled archer) and so while he is on the hunt he stumbles upon Prince Blaine's carriage and VOILA THEY MEET AND JUST TAKE THINGS FROM THERE <333</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Will Always Find You

**Author's Note:**

> THANKS to those whose hard work organized this Bang. To the lovely excusemethatsmypizza for her beautiful artwork that helped to inspire this fic. To my beta, Heather. And to the anon prompter, we hope you enjoy this.
> 
> My apologies for any and all flaws, this fic was hastily written as I filled in for the original author who was unable to complete this prompt.
> 
> Some FYIs: In ye olden days, a tiger was a groom, usually a boy, who rides in the back of carriages so nicknamed because of the yellow and black striped livery jackets they wore. "A pox on you" was a curse, referring to a disease of pustules like smallpox. For those not familiar with Once Upon A Time, Red is little Red Riding Hood.

  
Artist: [excusemethatsmypizza](http://excusemethatsmypizza.tumblr.com)

Once Upon a Time, in an Enchanted Forest, there lived a Thief named Snow who was brazen and bold; there also lived a Prince, noble and generous, whose love was true.

~*~

Kurt crept slowly through the underbrush, mindful of the need for stealth, just another foot or two and he would be in an ideal position, down-wind with an unobstructed line-of-sight to the little creek. The dappled fallow deer stepped cautiously out of the foliage, stopping to sniff the air, swiveling its large ears. Kurt held his breath, lest even that small sound might spook his prey. It was only a small juvenile still it would feed his father and him for nearly a month.

As the deer gingerly picked its way toward the water's edge, Kurt drew an arrow from the quiver on his back and carefully fitted it to the bow's string. The deer paused again and so did Kurt while the wary animal once more used all its senses to scan for danger unaware of how close it actually was. Failing to detect it, though, the deer lowered its head toward the water.

Positioning his bow, Kurt began to pull back the bowstring, the arrow shaft between his first two fingers, but before he was even half way to its full stretch, the deer's head snapped up in alarm. In the next breath, it bounded back into the safety of the brush.

Kurt cursed under his breath. So concentrated was he on his shot that he hadn't even heard what had startled the animal. Up in the branches of a tree, a sparrow twittered excitedly. Kurt whistled and the tiny brown bird flittered down to a twig near him. As a boy of eight, Kurt learned the forest folk bird calls from his mother just before she fell ill. Eleven years later, Kurt's heart still ached at her loss. Kurt whistled a query. The bird tilted its head as it peered at the human, then it fluttered its wings, chirping out its sighting in great detail.

A smile curved Kurt's lips. Suddenly he didn't mind losing his prey for an even better one had entered his home-wood. He unwound his scarf from around his neck to tie it around the lower half of his face and pulled his hood up over his head; as simple as that Kurt became the thief known as Snow.

~*~

The coach rocked precariously with every rut and bump in the forest road but Blaine kept himself in his seat by propping one booted foot on the seat opposite him, not terribly concerned about decorum since he was alone in the carriage; the benefit of having a horse throw a shoe.

Blaine insisted the coaches carrying the luggage and the chests containing the bride's dowry continue on with their journey while he stopped at the nearest village with a blacksmith. It wasn't wise to linger too long in any one place when they were transporting a King's ransom in gold and jewels - or rather a princess's. His Knights weren't too happy that he insisted they accompany the gold, leaving the Prince defended only by his own sword. He feigned offense to their implied insult of his skills, but commanded them away just the same.

So there was no one here to tell him he was not conducting himself in a very princely manner as he slouched back against the cushions and entertained himself by playing a merry little jig on his penny-whistle. The tune carried out of the glass-pane window that had been lowered to allow in the cool forest air. The Tiger, a boy by the name of Pen, drummed an accompanying rhythm on the coach's roof, much to Blaine's delight.

A sudden jolt nearly threw Blaine out of his seat as the coachman, Henley, jerked on the reins bringing the carriage to an unceremonious stop. He heard Pen complain who apparently also had trouble keeping his own spot on the high-perched seat in the rear of the coach. The next thing he heard was the young Tiger scrambling down to the ground all before he could right himself to grab his scabbarded sword resting on the opposite bench and let himself out.

"How now?" Blaine called up to the coachman. The burly Henley had his hands full keeping the four restless horses under control, displeased at being brought to such an abrupt halt.

"Apologies, Highness, but yonder," the gruff man gestured with his head as his hands were occupied. Blaine looked down the dirt path that passed for a road. Pen had a grip on the lead horse's bridle, stroking the neck soothingly. Then Blaine saw it, a figure lying at the edge of the road an arrow unmistakably protruding from its body. "That village blacksmith had it that a thief roams these parts, a thief skilled with a bow."

"Pen!" Blaine called out to the Tiger who left the horses to dash to the wounded man's assistance. "Wait!"

Blaine rushed after his groom, unsheathing his sword but it was too late. Just as Pen got to the injured figure, it moved. In a blink of an eye, the boy was locked in a choke hold with an arrow pointed threateningly at his throat.

"Stop right there." And Blaine froze, assessing the situation, he was too far away to make a grab at the arm holding the arrow. Much to his chagrin, the bandit had him and apparently knew it too. "That's right, let's do away with that sword, shall we? Throw it into the woods."

The muscles in Blaine's jaw clenched but the thief pressed the arrow tip into the boy's exposed neck for emphasis. Blaine stepped over to the side of the road.

"Highness, don't!" Henley called from the coach and Blaine grimaced.

"Highness?" the thief repeated in amused surprise. "No, Highness, do. And you're a strapping lad so give it a good throw."

Annoyance tinged his cheeks but Blaine hurled his sword out into the bushes. He silently marked the spot where it landed although it would take a minute or two to retrieve it. "The blade, too," came the instructions and Blaine drew the knife at his belt and tossed it after the sword.

"A pox on your eyes!" Pen spat mutinously.

"Pox doesn't affect the eyes, lad," Kurt chuckled then turned his attention back to Blaine. "So where do you keep it? In the carriage where you can count it?"

"Keep what?" Blaine asked.

"Stupid doesn't become you, Highness," Kurt sneered. "No Royal travels without gold."

"No Royal travels without guards," Blaine countered. "Our horse threw a shoe. I sent the luggage coach on ahead, including our gold, hence the absent guards. I'm afraid you're out of luck."

Kurt scowled beneath his concealing scarf and hood, a sinking feeling twisted in his stomach. His eyes flickered over the coach and indeed there was no baggage strapped to the roof and with a groom riding in the back, nothing would be back there either. Was he telling the truth? Just as Kurt's hopes rose at the possibility of a score that could solve all his and his father's troubles, they were dashed back down.

Nevertheless he needn't come away empty-handed, Kurt thought as he appraised the Prince before him. He was not as richly appointed as one might expect yet he wore a tunic of fine blue cloth and a cloak of blue velvet about his broad shoulders, pinned with a jeweled brooch. That particular shade was striking against his complexion and dark hair. _He_ was strikingly handsome and for a moment Kurt got lost in his beauty before Pen struggling in his hold brought him back to reality.

"That is certainly disappointing. I wonder what price your head might fetch, since it's the only thing of value you carry." Kurt pressed the arrow tip a little harder against the squirming Tiger and tightened his hold. "But as attractive as it is, I don't think I care to haul it around with me so I guess I'll have to settle for that purse at your belt instead."

Blaine untied the leather pouch from his belt. "You can have it, just let the boy go."

"Soon enough," Kurt answered back. "Let's have that pin at your throat." Blaine didn't hesitate, he unclasped it, tossing his cloak aside and added the brooch to the coins in his purse. "The rings too."

Blaine pulled off the heavy gold ring set with a large ruby that would bring a handsome price and dropped it into the bag. He cinched the purse close and held it out.

"Both rings," Kurt demanded but this time the Prince shook his head.

"It's worthless, the ruby is ten times its value," Blaine said. "Take it."

Kurt's eyes narrowed suspiciously on the ring on the Prince's little finger. He hadn't blinked an eye over parting with any of his belongings in that careless way of someone use to easy money so why did he balk now? It was true, it was nowhere near the wealth of the ruby, small green chips of either colored glass or emeralds, Kurt couldn't tell from where he was, arranged like petals of a flower set on a thin silver band. It was a woman's ring.

"A sweetheart give you that?" Kurt mocked, trying to ignore that it might bother him that it was a woman who held the Prince's heart.

The Prince blushed, a good look on him. "My mother," he said. "It... it is sentimental to me. It can have no value to you."

' _Oh but there you are wrong, my sweet prince_ ,' Kurt thought, his heart suddenly racing. This score, after all, might just get him the one thing that not all the gold in the kingdom could buy.

"Your mother must love you very much," Kurt remarked and Blaine nodded stiffly. "And you love her." He ignored the sting of his own lost mother's love.

"Take this and go in peace," Blaine held out the purse, "but if you take my mother's ring, I will hunt you down. And I will find you!"

The menace in the Prince's voice was as hard and sharp as steel but that only made Kurt want it more. He turned his head to the boy in his grip. "What do you say, little Tiger? Which do you think your Prince values more highly? Your life or that ring?"

"His Highness is the best of men, he's worth a hundred of you!" Pen declared defiantly.

"Such loyalty," Kurt commended.

"Stop! You can have the ring," Blaine told Kurt and he inched the tight ring off his finger and added it to the purse. "But you will regret this," he promised.

' _Not if it gets me what I want_ ,' Kurt thought.

Kurt had Blaine toss the leather pouch over to him where he and Pen slowly bent so that Pen could pick it up and bring it to his hand that held him in the choke hold. "Well, it was lovely meeting all of you," Kurt said pleasantly, "but I have to go."

He still had Pen firmly in his grip as he backed his way to the edge of the road.

"We had a deal!" Blaine advanced on them.

"Did we? I don't recall actually saying I would let him go," Kurt chuckled. "Fear not, have your precious Tiger."

At that, Kurt released his hold on the boy and brought his boot up and kicked the boy at his Prince.

Blaine caught Pen as he stumbled into him, quickly setting Pen on his feet before giving chase after Kurt into the woods with Henley calling to him in alarm.

He was several yards into the forest before Blaine paused to catch his breath, Kurt had vanished without a trace. He tried to calm the beat of his heart in his ears enough to try to hear a hint of anyone running through the undergrowth, but all he heard was Pen behind him, searching for him.

This was futile, Blaine knew. The Thief would know these woods like the back of his hand and he needed to retrieve his weapons if he was truly going to hunt him. Anger burned inside of him and he shouted, "I Will Find You!"

Quite nearby, up in the branches, well-hidden among the leaves, Kurt smirked as he watched the charmingly disgruntled Prince allow his Tiger to urge him to return to the coach.

~*~

This was taking far too long, Kurt was thinking by the time he descended into the shallow gully having to travel nearly a day out of his way because the river overflowed its banks and was now impassable, which made no sense because there had been no heavy rainfall.

He was not worried about the Prince's threat, there was no way the Royal knew these woods better than he did. More worrisome was the part of him that sort of wanted the Prince to find him, just because he wanted to see him again. The memory wouldn't leave his mind with those thick brows that were almost triangular and those absurdly long lashes and who had eyes like that anyway?

Kurt wasn't prepared when the ground beneath his feet moved; not moved like a landslide or even shifting like a quake, but actually lifted up! The next thing he knew he was being flung upward, his limbs in a tangle of leaves and branches. He was caught! He had actually been caught in a net trap! He had been daydreaming about that Prince and he walked straight into a trap!

He bobbed and twisted around like a hooked fish, spinning more violently the more he struggled. If he could just reach his dagger at his belt....

"Oh dear," came an infuriatingly calm and now familiar voice. Worst of all, it was tinged with smug self-satisfaction. "What are you doing up there?"

The world outside the net spun before Kurt's eyes, the Prince with his stupidly handsome face sliding into view and out again only to come around for another pass. Kurt burned with annoyance and embarrassment. "Shut up!!!" he snapped peevishly. "And get me down."

Blaine chuckled. "Give me back my ring and I'll consider it."

Kurt fumed. "I can't, I sold it."

"Impossible, you only had a couple of days," Blaine derided.

Kurt needed to pull his head out of the clouds and start thinking fast if he wanted to get out of this with his hide intact. Sighing, he resigned himself to the loss. "See for yourself," he grumbled. It took a great deal of squirming about to free the purse he had stolen from the Prince and dropped it to the ground.

Blaine snatched up the leather pouch and emptied its contents onto the ground. Sure enough the emerald ring was missing. He cursed under his breath. Why would he have sold it first? Why had he been so intent on that ring, it could mean nothing to him?

"Who did you sell it to?" Blaine demanded.

"Oh, you do not want to mess with them," Kurt warned. "Trust me."

The Prince scoffed at that. "You will take me to them."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because if you don't, I will take you to the nearest village and have you hung for the thief that you are," Blaine told him simply. "Which do you value more highly, your life or that ring?" he mocked.

"Charming," Kurt sneered.

"The rope, it is--"

"All right," Kurt conceded. "I'll take you to them. But you'll regret it."

~*~

The Prince now had not just his purse back but also Kurt's dagger. He'd bound his wrists and to Kurt's annoyance the Prince knew how to tie a wicked knot. He had underestimated this Royal, he was no spoiled aristocrat who let his servants do everything for him. He led Kurt to the horse he had tied to a tree well out of sight from where he laid the trap.

The horse had the bridle of one of the coach horses. Clearly Blaine had it unhitched so he could travel faster, but it meant that it had no saddle. When Blaine brought him around to the left side to mount the animal, Kurt snarked, "Bareback?"

To his delight, the Prince blushed deeply, turning away to make himself busy calming and reassuring the horse before pulling himself up. Kurt smirked when he reached down to him and the Prince's ears turned a shocking shade of red. Kurt chuckled to himself.

The two rode in silence except for the occasional directions Kurt gave at Blaine's prodding. Kurt held out as long as he could stand, which was at least a couple of hours, but he had to know. "How? How did you know I would be coming that way?"

This time amusement curved Blaine's smile. "It was the most logical route since the river was impassible."

Kurt frowned because that answer left only questions. "You can't know these woods that well."

"No," Blaine agreed, "but Henley, my coachman, does; he grew up in these parts."

' _Of course, just my luck_ ,' Kurt thought. Still that didn't explain everything. "And how could you know the river was overflown, it never floods this time of year."

Blaine smile widened smugly. "That river's headwaters has a damn. I sent my coach ahead to the next village to send a messenger bird. It's good to be Prince."

"Charming," Kurt muttered bitterly.

"My name is--" Blaine started to say but Kurt cut him off.

"No, I will only call you _Charming_." The sneer that Kurt imbued the word turned the accolade into a slur. "All your princely charm won't help you when we get where we're going."

"Well, it got me you," Blaine answered back and Kurt shut his mouth mutinously.

And he remained silent until his curiosity got the better of him again. "So where were you traveling?"

"To King Figgins' kingdom to bring back his daughter," Blaine said.

"To marry." And Blaine's brows shot up, but Kurt shrugged. "What else do Princes do with Princesses?" Blaine said nothing so Kurt asked, "Is she pretty?"

It was Blaine's turn to shrug. "I've never met her."

"Of course, an arranged marriage," Kurt deduced.

"That is the custom," Blaine said flatly.

"It is the custom to have no say in who you spend the rest of your life with?"

"Royals are wedded to their kingdoms, it is our duty to do what is best for them." Blaine sounded as if he were reciting an often heard lesson.

Kurt scoffed. "You are more a prisoner than I am."

Blaine looked sharply at the thief then let his eyes slide away.

~*~

"This is it?" Blaine derided. "No one is here."

"Oh, they are here. They never leave."

They dismounted and Blaine held the horse's reins in one hand and Kurt's leash in the other. They both stood there staring at the empty stone bridge spanning the ravine. "If this is a trick..."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Leave the horse here." When Blaine looked at him dubiously, Kurt said, "It will panic and run when they come."

"And they are?"

"Brothers, who guard this bridge," Kurt replied. "And they aren't going to want to return your ring."

Blaine tied the horse to a nearby tree then drew his sword. "We'll see about that," he said and led Kurt by his bound wrist to the foot of the bridge. "So where are they?"

"Just walk out onto the bridge, they'll want their toll," said Kurt.

"You first," Blaine gestured.

Kurt fought back another eye roll and took the lead, stepping onto the flagstones. It wasn't until they reached the apex that it happened. An enormous hand with four thick fingers instead of five reached up from below the bridge, grabbed on to the railing and hauled itself up. Both Blaine and Kurt took several steps backward at the heavy-jowled face with a great bulbous nose and brows that were more like slabs of meat hanging over beady eyes.

"Bridge Trolls?!" Blaine accused and Kurt didn't even try to hide his guilt. "Oh, did I forget to mention that?"

"You dare to cross our bridge, Little Thief, a---"

"Not I," Kurt was quick to interject. "It is Prince Charming here that wants to take your toll."

The great mountain of a troll bellowed his rage and swung his fist down to squash Blaine but he was quick and jumped back stumbling as the bridge shook with the impact of the blow. Blaine countered with a slash of his sword across the fingers curled into the fist. The troll screamed, snatching back his hand. The next moment, two more trolls were climbing up over the bridge.

 _Brothers!_ the thief had said. _Three brothers_ , he apparently neglected to mention. _'Where was that lying, deceiving trickster?'_ Blaine thought as he spun with his sword up trying to find an ideal position to defend himself but there wasn't one. He was surrounded.

~*~

Blaine had dropped the rope that he had leashed to Kurt's bound wrists when he scrambled to evade that fist coming down on him like a hammer. Kurt didn't hesitate, with his captor distracted, he ran for it. He was clear of the bridge by the time the two others joined their brother. Kurt turned back to see Blaine actually looking for him. For a moment their eyes met. Kurt grinned and gave the Prince a jaunty salute with his tied hands.

Laughing, Kurt untied the horse from the tree and led the horse back into the woods. That will teach the little lordling to tangle with a thief, Kurt chuckled to himself.

Kurt stopped after a short distance. He needed to cut his bonds before he could mount the horse but he didn't have his dagger or even an arrow tip. Kurt found a jutting rock to rub the rope against until it frayed enough for him to break free. He massaged his aching wrists, then reached into his pocket and pulled out Blaine's emerald ring.

Giving the Prince his purse had been his best trick: having his belongings back, he didn't even think of searching Kurt. It was just luck that Kurt had taken the ring out to look at it and then slipped it into his pocket instead of returning it to the leather pouch. Kurt smiled down at the ring. It didn't matter losing the rest of the booty, this was the real prize, and now he could get back to where he was really going before Blaine waylaid him.

Kurt laughed again. The Prince thought he was so clever for catching him. If Kurt hadn't made that detour to Red's to give the girl and her grandmother a few coins, he would have crossed the river before Blaine could lay his trap.

"Bet he's not feeling so clever now," Kurt grinned as he gathered up the reins. The horse tossed his head as if chastising him. "What? It's his own fault for trying to outfox a fox," Kurt protested but the horse danced skittishly, making it impossible for him to mount. Seriously, even his horse was a loyal subject?! "Oh calm down, it's not like he's in any real danger."

The trolls were just a ruse so he could escape, it wasn't like they were going to do something really awful... like rip him limb from limb. Of course not! The Prince could obviously handle himself... against three ginormous trolls......!

No! Kurt was not going to feel bad for him. He was only doing what he had to. This was his one chance to save everything! He was not going to throw it all away for a handsome face... the beautiful face... of the prince of his dreams.... No! This Prince was not going to save him! He was not Cinderella. No one was going to save him but himself! Thieves don't get happy endings, everyone knows that.

"He should have minded his own business!" Kurt snapped. Was he actually trying to justify himself to a horse? "He shouldn't have chased me." _He was only trying to get his mother's ring back._

Kurt squeezed his eyes shut. "Curse it!"

Just as he turned back to the direction of the bridge, a deafening clap of thunder struck before the shock wave blasted through the trees hitting Kurt square in the chest nearly knocking him off his feet. The reins yanked right out of his hands as the horse reared up, its eyes wild with terror, then it bolted off into the forest, leaving Kurt calling uselessly for it to stop.

An ominous quiet followed the explosion, not a solitary sound could be heard except for Kurt's ragged breathing.

_Charming_

Kurt was running.

When he broke through the trees, he gasped! The center of the bridge was simply gone, only the jagged charred stone blocks of either end remained. And gone was both the trolls and the Prince. Kurt clapped a hand over his mouth. Stunned, he stumbled his way to the edge of the ravine to see far below the jumbled debris of stone and the broken bodies of the three troll brothers.

_No no no no nononononono! What had he done? He hadn't meant for anything like this to happen!_

A movement caught his eye and he saw an arm clutching at the charred stone block. With a great effort, Blaine hauled himself bodily back onto the remains of the bridge. A startled cry of relief escaped his lips and the Prince lifted his head and saw him.

"You!" Blaine seethed.

The pure fury broke through Kurt's stunned relief and he was running again, this time back into the woods. Still shaken though, Kurt's feet were clumsy over the uneven ground and he could hear the Prince right behind him. Kurt spun around just as Blaine crashed into him throwing them both to the ground. Blaine's weight knock the breath out of him and his arms were pinned between them.

Panting for breath, Kurt stared up at the furious face above him. "You're alive," he gasped.

"Little thanks to you!" Blaine shot back.

"How?"

Blaine gave a little snort. "It's good to be Prince." And he pulled a chain necklace from beneath his tunic. There was a broken link where some sort of pendant would have been attached. "I did a witch a favor once and she gave me a charm. Didn't mention how powerful it was, though!"

"It's all good, then!" Kurt grinned in relief.

Blaine scowled furiously down at him. "You mean when you left me to die?!"

"I came back, didn't I?"

Something in Blaine's expression changed. "You did," he breathed. "Why?"

Kurt's lips parted. "Because.... because I'm a thief... not a murderer."

"Snow," Blaine whispered his name almost reverently like a prayer and his eyes lighted over his face as if seeing him for the first time. He gazed deeply into his eyes for a long moment before sweeping across the plains of his cheeks to come to rest on his mouth.

His breath caught in his chest and Kurt couldn't breathe. The very air around him came alive with new and unknown feelings and without thinking, Kurt lifted his head and brought their lips together. He felt Blaine gasp then he pressed back and they were kissing. At first it was just a press of mouths then something happened, softened, and Blaine's lips were caressing his and everything inside Kurt wanted to melt into him.

Kurt's arm had moved on its own volition and Kurt was staring, appalled, at what he had done. "Oh God, I'm so sorry!"

In his hand was his own dagger that he slipped from Blaine's belt. He had crashed the hilt to Blaine's head, knocking him unconscious. Kurt scrambled out from underneath him. "I'm sorry," he choked, "but I can't let you stop me!"

Kurt hated himself as he ran away.

~*~

Kurt swatted at the angry, colored fireflies that swarmed and dive-bombed at his head. They attacked as soon as he stepped inside the circle of mushrooms hidden deep in the heart of the woods.

"Ow!" he cried when of the colored lights delivered a stinging scratch across one cheek. "I-- Hey! I brought what you wanted!"

"Stop," a sweet voice spoke softly and the buzzing little lights halted their assault. They circled about him but they gradually moved away from him.

Almost like a star descending from the sky, a bright blue light floated gently down before Kurt who had to blink his eyes as the blue light shimmered into a tiny woman with fluttering wings. Kurt dropped to his knees inside the Fairy Ring. "Please, Blue Fairy, I have brought what you asked."

Kurt reached into his pocket and produced the emerald ring, holding it out to her. "It is just as you described."

The multi-colored fairies gathered closer, ooo-ing over it, as if they were drawn to it. A smile lit the Blue Fairy's face as she too flitted near holding out her own hands as if it emitted warmth. "Yes, it is beautiful."

"Then you'll accept it?" Kurt asked, hope making his voice breathless. "You'll give me what I asked for?"

The Blue Fairy smiled kindly on him. "And you give this ring willingly?"

"Yes!" Kurt answered quickly.

"There's just one problem with that," a voice cut in. "That ring is not his to give."

Kurt whipped his head around and stared disbelievingly. "How---?"

"I will always find you," Blaine told him simply.

An upswell of feelings that Kurt couldn't even begin to name filled his chest, the foremost that rose up over the dread was how much he wanted that to always be true. But, God, not now, not when he was so close! Not when he would take it all away from him!

"Your Highness," the Blue Fairy greeted Blaine. "If you speak the truth, step into the Ring."

At first Kurt gaped. _She knew him?_ Then he remembered, of course, the Fairies are invited to every Royal birth to bestow blessings - as if they weren't already born into every kind of privilege there was!

The Prince stepped over the mushrooms and into the circle. "That ring belongs to me. He is the thief known as Snow and he stole it from me," Blaine said.

"Is this true?" the Blue Fairy asked.

"No! Yes," Kurt confessed. "It is a gift from a mother to a beloved son."

"But if you have stolen it, that changes it," the Blue Fairy chided him.

"I took it for my father!" Kurt pleaded. "It's still love!"

"Ha!" Blaine scoffed.

"I love my father! I would do anything for him," Kurt snapped, furious as he felt everything slipping away. "Steal if I have to!" He turned to the Blue Fairy. "Please! I need your potion to heal my father. He could die without it."

"I am sorry, Snow, but we cannot take what isn't yours." The Blue Fairy's voice was full of sympathy. She lifted the ring out of Kurt's fingers and flitted over to Blaine who took it from her.

"Out of tricks now," Blaine mocked.

"I'm not lying! What other reason could I possibly want a healing potion?!"

Blaine paused, clearly not willing to believe him. "Is that what he wants?"

The Blue Fairy nodded. "His father suffered a heart attack. He survived but it permanently damaged his heart. Any exertion could trigger another attack."

Blaine looked down at the kneeling boy, his shoulders slumped. "If it's a ring you want, take this." Blaine took the ruby ring from his finger and held it out. "It's worth far more than the emerald."

The Blue Fairy shook her head sadly. "It is not mere gold and jewels we want, Highness. We draw our magic from love. It's the love that your mother gave that ring to you. It is the love for which you hold that ring so dearly that makes it precious."

Blaine stared down at his mother's ring. "Can't your mother give you something to give to them?" Blaine asked Kurt.

"No, she can't!" Kurt's voice was laced with pain and bitterness. "She died when I was little. We sold everything of value we had to pay the doctors. And they couldn't save her! My father is all I have left."

Kurt drew in several deep breaths and stiffly rose to his feet again. He squared his shoulders and lifted his chin up proudly and stepped out of the Fairy Ring.

"Wait!" Blaine called as Kurt walked away. "What if-- what if _I_ give you the ring? Will you give him the potion?"

"Do you give it willingly?" the Blue Fairy asked.

Blaine could feel Kurt's eyes on him. "Yes."

In the center of the Ring, the Blue Fairy held the emerald ring while her fairies circled around and around her. Kurt and Blaine watched from outside, a distance away, the air thick with magic... and tension.

"Why did you do this?" Kurt finally asked. "After everything?"

"You mean after holding my Tiger hostage and robbing me?"

Kurt gritted his teeth. "Yes, that."

"And almost getting me killed?" Blaine added. "Don't forget almost getting me killed."

"I came back!" Kurt snapped and Blaine flashed a smile that made his heart skip a beat.

"You did," he said softly and Kurt couldn't breathe.

He had to shake himself back to his senses, blushing in the growing darkness. "You- you didn't answer my question. Why?"

"That ring... my mother gave it to me before she died," Blaine said. "I know how it feels to lose a parent too. No one should lose both."

Kurt tried to swallow around the lump in his throat. He shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "Are you deliberately trying to make me feel bad?"

Blaine smirked. "A thief with a conscience. No wonder I caught you."

Kurt was incensed. "You are not as smart as you think you are, Charming! That little trap of yours only worked because I stopped at a friends to give them money!"

Blaine laughed out loud. "And then you came back when you could have gotten away. I don't think you're a very good criminal."

Kurt almost choked. "You take that back!"

"It's done!" the Blue Fairy announced sounding tired but pleased. The tiny winged woman held a vial of glowing greenish-silver liquid as she fluttered over to them. Kurt held out his hand and she placed the precious vial in his palm. Kurt bowed to her. "Thank you."

He cast a side-eyed glance at Blaine and gave him a grudging thanks as well, but when he turned to leave, Blaine followed. "What are you doing?"

"Coming with you," Blaine answered as if it should be obvious.

"You think I'm lying about my father?" he accused.

"No," Blaine said. "I would like to meet your father."

"You do think I'm lying!"

"I think you need protection," Blaine merely replied.

"EXCUSE ME!" Kurt sputtered.

"Look at how much trouble you had just getting here," Blaine pointed out reasonably.

"All my trouble came from you!" exclaimed Kurt.

"So who better to protect you from me than me?"

"That's idiotic!"

"It makes perfect sense."

"Perfectly idiotic sense!"

The fairies tittered as they watched the bickering pair disappear into the woods.

~*~

"Dad!" Kurt called out in alarm and sprinted across the clearing to the man who stood a few yards from a little cabin that actually looked more like a trapper's shed than a home. The man, in a plain woven jerkin, was bent at his waist, a hand at his chest as he tried to catch his breath. At his feet was a bucket of water.

"Dad, I told you, you can't carry heavy things!" Kurt scolded his father. He put an arm around the man's wide shoulders while leaning over to pick up the bucket by its rope handle but Blaine's hand met his. Their eyes locked for a moment and Kurt relinquished the bucket to Blaine without an argument.

"You fuss too much," Kurt's father grumbled but let his son assist him inside. The Prince followed, careful not to spill any water.

The cabin was cramped and cluttered yet clean and somehow cozy. While Kurt settled his father onto his bed, propped up with cushions, Blaine carried the bucket over to the pot-bellied stove that was apparently the sole source of heat as well as the means of cooking their meals. Blaine found a kettle and filled it with water. He stoked up the fire and put the kettle on to heat.

"Who's that?" Burt asked, eyeing Blaine suspiciously.

Kurt hesitated. "He's... that's the Prince."

Burt gave him a sharp look, hoping this was one of Kurt's jokes.

"It's an honor to meet you, sir." And Blaine gave the man a respectful bow. Kurt rolled his eyes, Blaine answered with a smirk.

"Kurt--!" Burt started then glanced back to the young man with the courtly manners. "Don't take my son. Whatever he's done, he did it for me."

"No, no, I am not here for that," Blaine assured him.

"He... he helped me, Dad," Kurt told him, "to get me this." And he pulled out the vial of glowing liquid.

Burt frowned. "That's magic?" he demanded, clearly mistrustful and for good reason as magic always came at a price.

"Rest easy, sir," Blaine said. "It is from the Blue Fairy. No evil comes from her magic. I, myself, was given a gift from her on my birth celebration."

Kurt quirked an eyebrow. "What did she give you?"

"The gift of music," he replied.

Kurt looked like he wanted to say more but his father asked, "What is it for?"

"It will heal you. Your heart will be strong again."

"And I can go back to work?" Hope suffused his voice for the first time and Kurt nodded. "Okay then," Burt heaved a deep breath. "Let's do this."

He took the vial from Kurt, pulled out the cork and downed it in one swift swallow. Father and son held their breaths waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, Kurt exploded, "They promised!"

Suddenly Burt gasped and clutched his chest. He lurched forward as if in pain. "Dad!" Kurt cried. Burt convulsed then collapsed against the bed. Kurt shook him, calling his name in fear.

Hands gently covered Kurt's, easing them to loosen his grip on his father. "Let it do its work," Blaine soothed.

"It's killing him!"

"No, it's changing him."

"I can't lose him, he's all I have!" Kurt looked up to Blaine, his eyes wide and fearful.

Blaine's arms closed around him. "You won't," Blaine promised. "You'll never be alone again."

Kurt leaned back against Blaine seeking the comfort Blaine was offering, watching his father lying there until he couldn't take it anymore. "Why isn't he moving?" he whispered.

Blaine unwound his arms from Kurt to lean over Burt so he could lay his ear to his chest to listen to his heart. He smiled. "It's strong and steady."

Kurt gave a shaky smile in return. His hand sought out Blaine's which closed warmly around his. Their eyes met.

Burt came awake with a great inhale of breath. "Dad! Dad? Are you alright?"

His father took several more breaths and started to laugh. "Yeah, I feel good. I feel... really good!"

Kurt threw himself into his father's arms, both of them laughing.

Blaine smiled at the two of them, father and son, and quietly withdrew to give them their privacy.

~*~

Blaine was sitting on a fallen tree log that had been dragged over to the cabin to serve as a crude sort of bench. Dew still clung to the grass in the early morning when Blaine brought his boots out to knock the caked dirt off before yanking them back on. He heard the cabin door open and Kurt came out. He sat beside him and held out a ceramic mug which Blaine accepted gratefully.

Blaine inhaled the tea's aroma. "Is that mint?"

"It grows in the forest if you know where to look."

Blaine tasted it and gave an appreciative smile. "How is your father?"

"Eating his weight in oatmeal and bread," Kurt snorted. "He wants to go into the village and look for work."

Kurt explained, when Blaine inquired after his profession, that Burt was a blacksmith before his attack. Blaine supposed he should have guessed from the man's solid build.

Slipping the ruby ring off his finger, Blaine pressed it into Kurt's hand. When Kurt was going to protest, Blaine laughed. "You were happy enough to take it at arrow-point but you won't when it's given freely?"

Kurt wanted to disagree - there was something about this man that made Kurt want to always contradict him - but he couldn't think of a single logical argument. He relented and laughed too.

When the moment passed, though, Kurt turned solemn. "I can never repay you."

"You can," Blaine countered. "You can give me your word. Promise you will never steal again." Kurt stiffened, spoiling for a fight on this. "I am the Prince. It is my sworn duty to uphold the King's Law. I can grant you a Pardon if you swear here and now to renounce all crime. Please, Snow, don't make me have to take your father's son from him!"

"That's a low blow!" Kurt scowled at him.

"Then you'll do it?"

Kurt stared down at his feet. When he spoke it was hushed. "My name is Kurt."

Blaine regarded the boy with his head bent and he looked very young just now. Blaine's mouth quirked up into a half-smile. "I don't know, I kind of like Snow."

When Kurt brought his eyes up to his there was a glint of mischief and a bit of the devil that Blaine was quickly developing a liking for and couldn't resist trying to provoke.

"Then why are you asking me to renounce it, _Charming_?" Kurt challenged.

"I believe it's the profession, not the name, I'm asking you to renounce," Blaine retorted.

"I don't know," Kurt prevaricated. "It sounds awfully dull, living a law-abiding life."

Blaine grinned. "If it is the adventure and life of daring you think you'll miss, I can suggest an alternative." Kurt gave a sharp laugh though there was a speculative look in his eye. "One of the privileges of Royalty," Blaine continued, "I have my own Order of Knights. They are charged with keeping the King's Peace and administering the King's Justice."

Kurt's laughter died. "You're not serious? A thief?"

"A _former_ thief."

Kurt stared at him in disbelief. "You jest at my expense!"

Reaching out, Blaine laid his hand on Kurt's arm. "No."

Kurt was at a loss for words, Blaine was offering a future beyond anything he had even dared to imagine... and Blaine was close and warm and everything he had dreamed of.

"Will you swear?" he asked as he held Kurt's eyes.

"I swear," Kurt whispered. And it felt something like magic enfolding around them, intimate, and it had Kurt's heart beating against his rib cage.

Blaine leaned in, his eyes drifting to Kurt's mouth. Kurt's lips parted but the gasp he made was surprised disappointment when Blaine was pulling away, his head ducking in sudden embarrassment. He gave a nervous laugh. "What is the time? The day is slipping away from me and I must go."

"Go?" Kurt frowned, trying to hide his heartbreak. "Why?"

 "My men will be searching for me," Blaine explained. "And I still have a journey to make."

  _'How could I be such a fool!'_ Kurt silently berated himself. _'Princes marry Princesses.'_

"To fetch the girl who is to be a bride," Kurt finished for him and Blaine gave another empty laugh, agreeing. "Then you need to be on your way."

Blaine started to say something but Kurt shot to his feet. "If you go South, it will take you to the main road. It will take you out of the woods." He was perversely proud of himself for keeping his voice from breaking.

"Snow..."

"Don't worry, I gave my word, remember? I'll keep it," Kurt promised.

"I know you will," Blaine said quietly but didn't make a move to leave. "You and your father will be...."

Kurt gave a jerky nod. "We'll be fine now. Thanks to you. I-- I am in your debt."

"No, Snow," Blaine started, stopped, then said, "You owe me nothing."

Kurt looked away, refusing to meet Blaine's eyes. The two stood there for several moments until Blaine wished Kurt well and set off into the woods.

~*~

The shadows were lengthening with the passing hours but Kurt found it hard to care. He knew that he needed to get back to the village and help his father at the smithy, but he was spending more and more time in the forest with the excuse of hunting.

He was escaping his father's unspoken but questioning looks. When was he going to stop moping about and settle on a future? But Kurt had no answer... for his father or himself.

The keening of a bird overhead broke through his reverie. He looked up to see the bird circling persistently above him. Kurt held up a gloved hand and the bird glided down to land on it.

"Did he send you?" Kurt asked the bird and listened to it chatter away, not certain he was hearing it right.

~*~

He was there, sitting on the fallen log outside the cabin. Only the cabin was empty now. Blaine's ring had paid for Kurt and his father to move to the village and set up a smithy for his father.

Kurt crossed the clearing and Blaine saw him approach and stood up to meet him.

"How did you know to send a bird?" Kurt wanted to know.

"Your father told me you can speak to them," Blaine said, his eyes taking in Kurt like he hadn't seen him in years.

"How did you tell it to find me?"

Blaine grinned. "That was the Green Fairy's gift."

"Of course," Kurt huffed. He should have known, shaking his head. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on honeymoon, Highness?"

"What?"

"Isn't your bride missing you?" Kurt accused. It hurt to see Blaine, as handsome as ever, and smiling as if nothing were amiss.

My--?" And Blaine had the temerity to laugh which incensed Kurt. "Wait, were you thinking I was the crown prince?"

"And why would I think that, _Highness!_ " Kurt was ready to toss Blaine off the bridge to join the trolls in the ravine.

"Yes, _Highness_ ," Blaine emphasized. "The crown prince is addressed as your _Royal_ Highness."

Kurt opened his mouth but the only thing that came out was "What?"

A chuckle escaped Blaine. "You know, if you had let me tell you my name, I could have told you that I am not Cooper, I'm Blaine... the _second_ son."

"Oh," was all Kurt could say as if he understood but he didn't. What did that mean? "Then you- you're not married?"

"No," Blaine shook his head. "Although now that Cooper is, I will be expected to be next."

"I suppose the King has someone already picked out," Kurt muttered.

"He might," Blaine conceded, "but I mean to pick my own." Blaine cleared his throat nervously. "Snow... Kurt..."

When Blaine extended a hand to him, Kurt flinched away. "You can't! You don't! Princes don't marry thieves."

Blaine stepped forward so that he could frame Kurt's face and stretched up to kiss him. "Former thief," he corrected when they parted.

Kurt's smile was more beautiful than any Blaine had seen, then devilish mischief glinted in his blue eyes. "Then I suppose I should give this back." And he held up a leather purse.

His eyes dropped down to his empty belt. "Snow!"

And Kurt laughed merrily. When Blaine reached for it, Kurt snatched it away. "I recall someone saying I wasn't a very good criminal. Take it back."

"Kurt!" Blaine made to grab the purse but Kurt's height allowed him to hold it too high for him to get at it without jumping. His jaw clenched. "Fine. You are a good thief."

"Which is a criminal," Kurt refused to relent.

"Which you promised to never be again," Blaine reminded and held out his hand expectantly.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Fine."

When Kurt dropped the purse into Blaine's hand, Blaine's other arm caught Kurt about the waist and pulled him to him. This time when their lips met, Kurt wound both arms around Blaine's shoulders.

~*~

Kurt was on his knees, his head bowed, as the sword's blade descended and touched him on the shoulder, rose up and touched again on his opposite shoulder.

"Rise, Knight of the Realm," King Ander intoned.

There in the Great Hall with sunlight streaming in through the stained-glass windows behind the golden throne, the thief once known as Snow rose to his feet, his cloak of white fur swirling about his legs. Of all the eyes of those gathered in the Royal Court, even that of his father fidgeting uncomfortably in his new brocade coat, only one pair matter to Kurt, a pair of honey-hazel eyes full of pride and love. Kurt flushed under their gaze.

The King, a man with the same remarkably handsome features of his two sons and dark hair though his was streaked with gray, turned to his youngest. "You have found the man you wish to stand at your side throughout this life?"

Blaine's eyes never leaving Kurt's answered his father without hesitation. "I have."

"Then take his hand," the King commanded.

Love swelled in Kurt's chest, full to bursting, as the man who would always be his Prince stepped down from the dais, resplendent in a coat of royal purple, and came to stand before him. He held out his hand. Kurt's smile held the promise of all the years to come of shared joys and sorrows as he placed his hand in Blaine's.

A robed priest wrapped an embroidered sash around their joined hands just as love had already joined their hearts. They sealed their exchanged vows with a kiss.

And for the first time, a Thief and a Prince lived happily ever after.

The End


End file.
